Chaplain_Jim's Blog

Hello All,

First things are first, PEACE BE WITH YOU ALL!

Now lets get to the point here, I just got home from a mini vacation. I went to Six Flags in Atlanta, GA. Then went down to Busch Gardens in Tampa, FL. While I was at Six Flags in Atlanta, there was a very BAD accident that claimed the life of a 17 year old man from South Carolina. As I walked around the park after the accident, I saw some sad faces and some faces that looked confused. Very few HAPPY faces, like you would think you would see at a theme park.

So, I am writing this blog entry to ask everyone, PLEASE, stop and read all the signs. If the sign says DO NOT ENTER... PLEASE Do not enter. At the time you may think nothing will ever happen to me, or this is silly there looks to be nothing that can hurt me. Well there is a reason for everything.

Life is too short to take too many chances.

So after the accident in Atlanta, I got to thinking, enjoy life, treat everyday as if it were your last. Tell your loved ones you LOVE them, HUG your friends, tell your KIDS how special they are to you, enjoy your job, be kind to others and above all, LOVE YOURSELF! After all, you never know when your time is up!

Thanks for reading and please be SAFE!

Peace to everyone!

Dear friends,

I was sitting here tonight chatting to a friend of mine in Texas. I was telling him how bad I felt, going on as to all my troubles and depression. He was so kind to sit there and listen to me and give me the friendly kind words of care that friends do. Then he tells me, he just found out he is HIV Positive. I felt so bad that I was upset over the fact that I did not have any money to go to McDonald's or the fact that I am home alone and no plans to do anything.

And here is this guy who is ONLY 28 years old and he is now trying to cope with the fact that he has a deadly illness. And he admits how he got the virus was wrong on his part. He said he should have done things different.

So friends, remember no matter how bad we may feel we have it, there is always someone who has it a lot rougher.

Now as I told the story last week about trying to be nice and help as we never know when we may run across the Lord. Last week I was fighting a field fire in Illinois. as we were rolling up the hose, there sat a guy in the trees. I walked over to see if he was ok, he was, he was just sitting there watching a little field mouse. He was concerned that with the field fire the mouse would have no home. So he (somehow) got that mouse to come to him and he took it home to let it go in his back yard. I got to thinking, was that mouse or that man, my Lord?... Was he testing me to see if I would offer them some help?... And I did offer the man some help and the man in turn helped that field mouse.

So NO MATTER how small the gesture, remember to give a gesture as someone is always fighting a bigger battle then we are.

Peace to you all!

Peace to everyone!

We have all heard cliches about life being all types of things... However as the summer and theme park times are apon us, I felt compelled to write a post about them both.

Life is really like a roller coaster. We all stand in line for a while with some excitment building up in us as we get closer to the front of the line. Then as we get on, we are all nervous. As we climb the lift hill, we look around in amazement at how high we are and how wild the ride looks. Then as we do the first drop we scream. As the ride goes on, we are having fun and laugh like we did when we were in grade school with NO WORRIES. And as the ride comes into the platform at the end. We get off with a HUGE smile on our faces and look at the people waiting to get on. We walk away from the ride with a sense of euphoria.

So how does this relate to our lives? Well we all wait in line everyday at the store, fast food place or even in a traffic jam. we sit there with excitement about getting to the front so we can either get food or get home. As we get closer to the goal of our lives (what ever that goal is, as it is different for us all) we get full of jitters, once we have achieved our goal, we look around at how high we really are and how wild the ride has been. And as we get to the end of the day, we look back at how our day was. It is either a "good day" or a "bad day". But NO MATTER what type of day it was, we can decide if we want to be full of blah or euphoria.

So let's all try to decide to have a "good day" and walk away from our day full of euphoria and smile! After all "We deicde our attitudes and moods"

Peace to you all and ENJOY the ride you are on, after all, we only get ONE ride at the ride of life.

Peace to all who read this. I have lived here in St. Louis for four years now. And, today I did something for the VERY FIRST time. And while doing this, I looked out over the city and over the river and had a wonderful time. I went up in the Arch. As I was up there, I realized that a lot of us are in such a rush. We do not take the time to enjoy all that GOD offers us.

Now the main reason for my blog today...

A person I know had to have surgery on their pet in order to save it's life. The surgery was 2 times more then they were told it would be. So he paid the surgery bill and put himself debt. After 3 weeks, the pet was not getting any better and had to be put to sleep. The doctor who put the pet to sleep, realized the faliy was having money issues. The doctor decided to NOT CHARGE a single penny for her and her staffs services. The family asked to have the remains cremated and returned. The doctor and her staff all took up a donation (in their office between the staff) and paid for the urn for the remains to be given back to the family.

Once my friend told me of the kind actions from the staff and doctor to him and his family, it made me stand back and think........... There are GOOD people out there. The doctor and her staff did not have to do this for this family. Thi cost the doctor money.

So, I have a challenge for everyone. How about we give the spare change in our pockets to a donation jar on the counter at the fast food places we all go to, or how about if you see someone sitting on the street and it looks as if they might be homeless, we give them a few kind words and the spare change?... After all like a country song... You never KNOW when GOD comes to us to see how we act. This counrty song is a story about a man who lives alone, his friends asked him to come over for Christmas evening to spend time. He says No, he has a special guest coming by. A knock on the door and he opened the door, it was a begger, he invited the begger in gave him warm soup and made him warm then sent him on his way. Then a second knock on the door and it was a lost child, he took the child and found the childs family. The third knock on the door was an older lady with bundles of fire wood for sale. Although he did not need wood, he still purchased some from her and too gave her wam soup and sent her on her way. At the end of the night he said unto the LORD, You said you were coming by today and you never did. The LORD replied, "Oh my son, I did, three times I knocked on your door and three times you opened your door and welcomed me in." So, lets open our door to all who knock on it, as we never know when the LORD is knocking!

In closing, PEACE to you and yours!

Hello Everyone,

I went for a walk the other day for lunch. I could not help but notice some people rushing down the street in their car, yelling at others. I thought they might be rushing to the hospital. Then I saw they pulled into a coffee shop.

I got to thinking, is life that busy that we will drive like a maniac down the road yelling at other's, JUST to get COFFEE?... Maybe they were having a withdraw and needed their coffee...

I decided, that LIFE is not that busy that I must be in such a hurry, unless ones life is in danger or when working for the fire department or special services like I do.

I challenge everyone who read this to slow down and smell the flowers or look at all that GOD has given us. The beautiful living things, animals, plants and trees. After all, nature takes its time. And Nature is so wonderful to look at. Have you ever noticed, that NOTHING in nature is perfect?... Not one flower is the same, not one grass blade is the same, not one tree is the same, nothing is perfect, nothing is 100% straight. Just like us humans. We are all different. This is what makes life so wonderful.

I know I have gone in many directions with this blog, however the point I am trying to make is, take the time to enjoy life and not be in such a hurry. After all, it seems that JUST yesterday was New Years day. Before we know it, it will be New Years Eve again. And before we know it we will not be the child, we will be the grand-parent.

PEACE to you all!

Dear Friends,

Just like the pic I have as my avatar, can we not all get along and share the love we should all have for each other? The pic is of my dog and cat. They get along so well, I actually sit back and watch them and they teach me. They teach me that no matter what differences we may have with others, we must all work through them and get along. The pic is of my dog sleeping on the floor in the sun and the cat came down and layed across his back with one paw over him.

As the sun came in and casted a glow across them, I realized that animals know how to love with out limits. Look at the pet you may have, then look at a pet a homeless person may have. Both pets LOVE their master the same as the other. They wag their tails when they see their master. So this has taught me that, we should really love one another with no LIMITS! For this love my pets have showed me and woke me up to, I have become a Certified Veterinary Chaplain. I do the same as a Chaplain in a hospital would do for you or your family, however I do it for the pets and their families.

I recently got a message from a fellow Fox 2 blogger and he told me of a phrase he remembers and has on his computer to remind him every day! And the message is...

"BE KINDER than necessary....Everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle!"

And this quote goes so well with what I am saying here today. Lets just get along! It will make life so much easier.

And for all of the bloggers that have wished me well and welcomed me to blogging, THANKS for the warm welcome. I too, look forward to seeing you all around and chatting! For those who have asked where in Soulard I am, I am close to Geyer and 11th street. And yes I am a Firefighting Chaplain. Probably the ONLY Reverend who will grab a fire hose to help put out a fire and then turn to help with your religious needs.

I wish you all PEACE.

Friends,

Please I beg you all to take a deep breath and relax, life is all too short to be full of anger and point fingers. remember, when you point your finger at someone, you have 3 more pointing back at you. We (as people) are always quick to point blame at others for everything. We must take the time to realize that NO ONE is perfect!  Please look at the person and the situation before you HONK your horn at the green light when the car in front of you does not go right away, look around and smile at the car next to you. Take a moment and hold the door and smile for the person entering behind you. Take a moment and smile at the people you walk by on the street. If we all start to smile at others, soon we will begin to laugh and smile all the time and thus, anger would go away. 

I did not mean to preach or get on my soap box. However PLEASE SMILE. Plus if you smile a lot (like I try to do) people wonder what you are up to... LOL

PEACE to you all!